Despite being picked to finish 3rd in the East in the preseason SWAC poll, Jackson State
not only won the East, they won the SWAC championship and went undefeated in the
SWAC. Head Coach T.C. Taylor captures his first SWAC championship in his second
year on the job. Very impressive considering he took over the football program when a
lot of players left. Some went with Deion Sanders to Colorado, while most just left,
taking their respective talents and abilities to other schools. After having a full year on
the job under his belt, Coach Taylor and his staff established the foundation for
recruiting while cultivating the Jackson State culture. Coach Taylor knows the Jackson
State culture very well having been a quarterback at Jackson State during his playing
days. He’s tiger breed. He loves JSU. He knows winning is not only the expectation,
but requirement at Jackson State.
For the second time this season, Jackson State hosted Southern University. More than
bragging rights on the line this time. Southern entered the game 7-1 in the SWAC and
the Western Division champions. Having won the last their 4 of 5 games, Southern was
riding pretty high. The jags also had revenge on their minds from an earlier defeat to
Jackson State on September 14th . Jackson State defeated Southern 33 to 15 in a non-
conference counting SWAC battle. Over confidence was on the forefront of fans of
JSU. No one wanted JSU to let their guard down. JSU has defeated Southern the last
6 times they’ve played. Coach TC Taylor and his guys also entered the game on a 9
game winning streak with dominating win over Alcorn two weeks ago. The tigers have
been clicking on all cylinders. Averaging 35 points per game, scoring 40 or more points
5 times during the winning streak, while only yielding 13 points, Jackson State rode into
the SWAC Championship with momentum and success.
Quarterback Jacobian Morgan started the game, but left just before halftime after taking
a hit. So, Coach TC Taylor put Zy McDonald in the game. McDonald was phenomenal,
leading the tigers to victory. For his efforts, the former Ridgeland High school
quarterback won Offensive MVP. McDonald rushed for 95 yards on 8 carries and
completed 6 of 11 passes for 75 yards with a touchdown. The SWAC offensive player
of the year, Irv Mulligan, lead Jackson State in rushing. Mulligan gained 116 yards on
23 carries with a touchdown. Travis Terrell Jr chipped in with 47 yards and a
touchdown.
The darkside defense allowed Southern to take a 10 to 3 lead in the 2 nd quarter. Once
that happened it was lights out. Defensive MVP, Robert McDaniel, a transfer from
Alcorn State, intercepted two passes. Shamar Hawkins paced the tigers with 8 tackles,
a sack, and a tackle for loss. Ashton Taylor and Joshua Nobles both registered over 5
tackles with a sack.
The defensive was smothering. On this Saturday, Southern had no answers on how to
stop JSU’s defense from wrecking havoc. After leading 10 to 3, Southern could only
score 3 more points for the game. Quarterback Czavian Teasett was sacked 3 times,
hurried about 10 times and intercepted twice. Teasett lead the team in rushing also with
56 yards on 14 carries. Darren Morris lead the receiving corps with 10 catches for 65
yards. Despite Jackson State pulling away from them easily, Southern’s defense was
able to sack McDonald and Morgan 4 times.
Jackson State rolled Southern 41 to 13. Next up is the celebration bowl this Saturday.
Jackson State will do battle with South Carolina State, the MEAC champions. Jackson
State will be playing in the celebration bowl for the 3 rd time in 4 years. However, they’ve
fallen short in the previous two. With Christmas a couple of weeks away, Tiger Nation is
wanting TC Taylor to deliver the HBCU championship win for Christmas. Kickoff is
scheduled for 11 am on ABC.